Yannis Kontos was born in Ioannina, Greece in 1971. He has been associated with Sygma (1998-2000) Gamma (2001-2002) and Polaris Images from its inception to date. Yannis completed in depth work from Palestine and Israel to West Sahara and Sierra Leone, and from North Korea and Indonesia to Iran, Iraq and Colombia. His photographs, texts and interviews have been published in Time, Newsweek, Life, The New York Times, Stern, Der Spiegel, Paris Match, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer, Geo, etc. Selected awards include: World Press Photo, Fujifilm European Press Photographer of the Year, Europe, UNICEF Photo of the Year Award, Visa Pour l’image, Picture of the Year and the Life magazine Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards Pictures of the year. His recent book is about North Korea.

About the Photograph:

This man peers out the window of a restaurant, towards the border fence at Nogales, where crosses that memorialize immigrants killed while crossing the border hang. Hundreds of undocumented immigrants lose their lives in the Arizona desert each year. This essay focuses on the long and difficult journey of the thousands of, mainly, Mexicans that walk 80km in the desert in search of employment in the US, in search of the American Dream. Almost 4,000 people cross the border daily and walk for more than three days under extreme temperatures to reach the nearest American city.

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Photographer and photo editor Geoffrey Hiller has created Verve Photo to feature photographs and interviews by the finest contemporary image makers today. Verve Photo is a reminder of the power of the still image. Verve Photo will also point you to new photo agencies, publications, and inspiring multimedia projects.